ABB DRIVES AND MOTORS KEEP CHINA TYRE INDUSTRY TURNING

ABB Drives & Motors 20/09/2010

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Variable speed drives and accompanying motors for manufacturers of processing equipment for the plastics and rubber industries

ABB is helping reverse the usual flow of manufactured goods to the UK from China by supplying two variable speed drives and accompanying motors to Rochdale-based Farrel, a manufacturer of processing equipment for the plastics and rubber industries.

The drives will run Farrel’s Intermix batch mixer machines for two Chinese customers that produce rubber compounds for automotive tyres.

The Intermix® is used in rubber and plastics applications and is particularly designed for technical rubber products. ABB’s order comprises of two ABB industrial drives and appropriate ABB motors, one set of 1400 kW and the other of 1000 kW. ABB is one of Farrel’s preferred suppliers of drives. “One of the Chinese customers specified the use of ABB drives. They are a repeat customer for us and they are very satisfied with ABB’s support in China,” says Ian Wilson, Farrel’s Director of Sales. As a worldwide company, ABB can support its products in any market.

“We find that ABB drives function extremely well. They are also very competitively priced,” adds Wilson. The drives and motors were selected to provide the high torque needed in mixing rubber compounds. Rubber mixing machines can have a very high current overload duty, of up to 200 per cent in some cases. When fed with material, the overload can be experienced for up to six seconds. Overloads can also occur if the rubber starts to cure and harden, if left in the mixing vessel following an electrical failure, for example. For the Chinese applications, the ABB 1000 kW drive and motor can provide an overload current of 150 percent, while the 1400 kW package can provide an overload current of 180 percent.

Both motors are water-cooled. Water cooling is a very efficient method of transferring heat away from the motor, and water cooled motors provide high output power per unit of weight.

“Noise levels are also important to our customers,” says Wilson. “We find the water jacket cooling on the ABB motors prevents the development of resonant frequencies and helps us keep the noise levels within the 85dBA range specified in many of our contracts.”

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.

For more information contact;

ABB Ltd, Warrington, Cheshire
Tel: 01925 741 111
Fax: 01925 741 212

E-mail: energy@gb.abb.com
Web: www.abb.co.uk/energy